Paint brush assembly



N. COOLEY -PAINT BRUSH ASSEMBLY May 14, 1957 Filed June :8, 1954 INVENTOR. 4 0/70 000/6 PAINT BRUSH ASSEMBLY Nathan Cooley, Kansas City, Mo.

Application June 8, 1954, Serial No. 435,191

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-246) This invention relates to improvements in paint brush assemblies and particularly to an attachment for paint brushes in the nature of a guard permitting accurate painting where clean, sharp and clear margins are required such as trimmings, as for example, around the glass of a window or door.

It is the most important object of the instant invention to provide an attachment of the aforementioned character that includes a support which may be mounted on the handle of the brush that carries a reciprocable shank upon which a guard plate is mounted, the assembly being additionally novel because of the way in which the shank is freely swingable with respect to its support so that the bristles of the brush may be moved toward and away from the said guard plate.

Another important object of the instant invention is to provide an attachment for paint brushes that includes a spring or the like for yieldably holding the shank at one end of its reciprocable path of travel, yet permitting the aforementioned free swinging movement of the guard plate toward and away from the brush bristles.

Another important object of the instant invention is the provision of a guard that may be used in conjunction with means on the paint bucket for holding the guard free and clear of the paint when the bristles of the brush are dipped thereinto.

Additional objects include many other important details of construction, all of which will be made clear as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a paint brush assembly made pursuant to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a hanger-like device usable in the manner shown by Fig. 3 when the assembly is placed in use.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view through a paint bucket showing the assembly of Fig. 1, together with the device of Fig. 2 in operative position with respect to the bucket and paint contained therein.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, sectional view through a window pane or the like illustrating the assembly of Fig. 1 in operative use While painting the trim or molding of the window; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line V--V of Fig. 4.

As clearly seen in the drawing, the guard forming the subject matter of the instant invention and broadly designated by the numeral 10, is mounted directly upon handle 12 of a paint brush 14 having bristles 16 at one end thereof in the usual manner.

The guard includes a support 18 that is substantially U-shaped presenting a bight 20 which lies flatly against the handle 12 when attached thereto through use of screws or other fasteners 22.

In addition to the bight 20, support 18 is provided with an uppermost leg 24 and a slightly longer, lowermost leg 26. The leg 24 serves as a bearing for rod 28 forming a part of an elongated shank 30 by virtue of ts atent {Cg V 4 2,791,790

Patented May 14, 1957 2 an openin'g 32 within the leg 24 that not only slidably receives the rod 28 for reciprocation on its longitudinal axis, but is of suflicient diameter to permit swinging movement of the shank 30 toward and away from the bight 20.

The shank 30 is also threaded through an elongated, rectangular slot 34 in the leg 26 and is provided with a polygonal bar 36 slidably engaging the leg 26 within the slot 34 and thereby holding the shank 30 against rotation on its longitudinal axis.

A spring 38 coiled about the rod 28 between the leg 24 and the bar 36 yieldably holds the shank 30 biased toward one end of its path of travel as shown in Fig. 1. A key or the like 40 traversing the bar 36, engages the leg 26 and thereby limits the extent of downward movement of the shank 30 with respect to the support 18. A guard plate 42 is rigidly secured to the shank 30 in any suitable manner at the lowermost end of bar 36.

The guard assembly 10 just above described, may be advantageously used in connection with a bracket-like device 44 in the manner illustrated by Fig. 3 of the drawingl The bracket 44 may be inexpensively manufactured from a single length of initially straight wire, bent and formed to present a shelf 46 having an up-turned stop means 48 and the shank or handle of the device 44 is provided with hook means 50 adapted to be looped over theuppermost edge ofa paint can 52 above the level of paint 54 as shown in Fig. 3.

The paint brush 14 with its guard 10 is shown in use in Fig. 4 of the drawing in connection with a windowpane 56 and the molding or trim 58 of its frame for holding the pane 56 in place.

By virtue of the reciprocable movement of the shank 30 with respect to the support 18, the guard 10 may be placed in use in the manner illustrated by Fig. 3 of the drawing when it is desired to dip the bristles 16 within the paint 54 of container 52. In this respect, it is seen that the user may place the guard plate 42 upon the shelf 46 as he moves the bristles 16 into the paint 54 and as the brush 14 is moved downwardly against the action of spring 38, the bristles 16 may be dipped into the paint 54 without the necessity of holding the plate 42 out of the paint.

As soon as the brush 14 is lifted out of the can 52, the spring 38 will return the plate 42 to the position illustrated in Fig. l of the drawing and the assembly may be placed in use in the manner shown by Fig. 4 of the drawing. The operator merely places the guard plate 42 against the pane 56 and slides the same along the molding 58 as the brush 14 is moved downwardly against the action of spring 38 and tipped laterally to a position where the bristles 16 are brought into engagement with the trim 58. The leg 26 with its elongated slot 34 cooperates with the bar 36 of shank 39 not only in holding the plate 42 against rotation, but limits swinging movement of the shank 30 and, therefore, the plate 42 to a single plane substantially perpendicular to the handle 12 of brush 14.

It is important to note that the guard 10 is particularly novel in that no manipulated action on the part of the painter is needed in order to bring the plate 42 into operative association with the bristles 16 of brush 14. In other words, the user mayoperate the assembly with one hand since he is not only able to maintain the plate 42 clear of the paint 54 when dipping the bristles, but is able to hold the assembly in the position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing without need of grasping the shank 30 or any other part of the guard 10 with his other hand.

The guard 10 may be held out of operative position, and the brush used without regard thereto by the use of shoulder 60 formed on bar 36 adjacent to plate 42.

18 when the bar is moved longitudinally against the ac-- tion of spring 38 and to a point where lateral movement of the bar will bring shoulder 69 over leg 26.

Slot'34 is so formed as to allow freely shifting bar 36 to and from a position where shoulder 60 and leg 26 are interlocked. Thus, the brush may be used Without the attachments thereto.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A guard for paint brushes comprising a substantially U-shap'ed support having a bight adapted for attachment to the handle of a brush, a first leg provided with an opening, and a second leg provided with an elongated slot; an elongated shank extending through the opening and the slot and provided with a guard plate on one end thereof, said shank being reciprocable on its longitudinal axis relative to the support and swingable toward and away from said bight; a spring coiled about the shank between the legs, said spring being operably coupled with the shank and with one of the legs for yieldably holding the shankat one end of its recipr'ocable path of travel; stop means on the shank and engageable with the second leg for limiting the extent of movement of the shank in one direction under force of thespring; and slide surfaces on the shank engaging the second leg within the slot for holding the shank against rotation on its said longitudinal axis.

2. A guard for paint brushes having bristles comprising a substantially U-shaped support having a bight adapted for attachment to the handle of a brush and a pair of spaced legs, one of said legs being provided with an opening, and the other leg having an elongated, longitudinally extending slot therein; an elongated, inflexible shank extending through the opening and the slot, said shank being freely reciprocable on its longitudinal axis relative to the support and freely swingable toward and away from the bight within the confines of the opening and the slot at any point along the reciprocable path thereof; means on the shank and disposed between the legs for limiting the extent of reciprocable movement of the shank; and a paint guard plate on the end of the shank adjacent said bristles whereby the guard may be positioned at any one of a plurality of points relative to the bristles limited only by restrictions on the swinging and reciprocation of the shank produced by said means and the slot.

3. A guard as set forth in claim 2 wherein said shank is in interengagement with said other leg within the slot, said shank having slide surfaces for limiting swinging 20 movement of the shank to a single plane.

4. A guard as set forth in claim 3 wherein said slide surfaces on the shank hold the shank against rotation on its longitudinal axis.

References Cited in the tile of this patent 

